Join us in commemorating the Bicentenary of the exploration of the Hastings Valley from Mount Seaview, following the Hastings River to Port Macquarie. Wauchope District Historical Society invites you and your organisation to participate in this community celebration.

The Expedition

Starting in May 1818, Oxley's expedition went north-west from Bathurst following the Macquarie River to the impenetrable Macquarie Marshes.

They then turned east to the Castlereagh and the Liverpool Plains. After reaching and naming the Peel River (near today’s Tamworth), they crossed the southern part of the New England Range near today’s Walcha, explored and named Apsley Falls and climbed Mount Seaview.

They could see a river which Oxley called the Hastings and followed it through present-day Wauchope, climbing Bago Mountain on the way to the river mouth which he named Port Macquarie.

The expedition reached Newcastle in November, six months after their departure.